Huskies WR John Ross: 'It seems like they know when the ball is coming to me'

Sophomore John Ross leads the Huskies in receiving yards (371 on 17 catches, with four touchdowns) but touched the ball only twice from scrimmage during UW's 24-10 loss to Arizona State last week.

He said on Wednesday that it seemed as if ASU knew when he was getting the ball.

"Honestly, I feel like the film that we put on and some things that we’ve got, last week, there were plays where guys just knew," Ross said. "So I don’t mind being the decoy if that’s the case and get someone else open. I’m a team player no matter what. I’d rather have someone else have a really good game and me contribute than me being selfish and just wanting the ball all the time and trying to score as much as I can.”

So are defenses just keying on the quick throws near the line of scrimmage, like the one Ross caught for an 85-yard score at California?

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“I feel like it’s everything. They just know," he said. "It seems like they know when the ball is coming to me. And I try to change up everything, but … I just have fun, you know, no matter what.”

He says he isn't upset with how little he's touched the ball recently.

“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating," Ross said. "My mentality is if I’m not getting the ball, then do what they would do for me if I did have the ball. Sometimes I like to really block, like block down the field and cut guys and have a lot of fun out there for the guys who are getting the ball. It’s not hard for me to stay in the game mentally.”

Here are some more comments from Ross on the Huskies' offense, and yet another big kick return called back due to penalty.

(On the passing game and trying to get it going) “Still in progress. I honestly don’t know. We go through a lot. We’re trying to get it going. It’s not like we go out there and our objective is not to have a good receiving game for any of us. … We’ve got to continue to work and get better.”

(On relationship between QBs and WRs) “I feel like I can only speak for myself and make sure I’m correct before anything. … Me being detailed in my routes, being on the same page as the quarterback – I feel like our quarterbacks always know what they’re doing, and they always know what we are doing. We’ve just got to know our assignments and do exactly what we’re told.”

(Sense of urgency this week after two losses?) “It’s always a sense of urgency, but we don’t like losing. No one does. We just want to get better each and every week.”

(Feel like now it’s really time to go with Cyler Miles back at QB?) “Not at all. Last week was the same thing, just like if Troy was our No. 1. It’s the same thing. We don’t depend on one person because we’ve got to get going no matter what. We don’t think no one’s better than anybody. We feel like all of our quarterbacks can go.”

(Another holding call on a big kick return …) “I just feel like I’m so used to it now. Just like last year. I can’t even get mad anymore. I’ve just got to look forward and continue to look forward.”

(Is it to the point where you just assume there’s going to be a penalty if it’s a big return?) “Sometimes I do get overconfident and happy, and I start to slow down, which I did have a problem with. I don’t necessarily see open field and just like, ‘you know it’s a flag, so I’m not even …’ it’s not like that.”

(Surprised you got tackled from behind?) “What it was, I was just so confident, I’m not even knowing, I’m thinking I’m out of there and I look up and he was behind me so it was just like, wow. I was upset. I wasn’t upset at the flag. I was upset that I really just got tackled like that.”

(Will that happen again?) “Never. Never. That should never happen again. Ever.”

(On trying to bounce back) “I feel like just carrying the loss on our shoulder, that just carries over into this game. We don’t like losing and we want to win, so our mentality is get a win. No matter who’s in our way, we’re going to fight, and we’re not going to give up.”

Christian Caple can be reached at christian.caple@thenewstribune.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple